HAPO Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Programme in Tabora Region

1. Background – About HAPO

HAPO (Health Action Promotions Organisation) was established in 2001 by Tabora based Tanzanians, a number of whom had previously worked for the British charity Health Projects Abroad.

HAPO aims to support projects that impact on health, education and poverty elimination. They have a particular interest in projects that support children specifically the poorest and most disadvantaged in their local communities.

The Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programme began in July 2006, though the ideas for it have been developing for many years. Funding for this programme, plus core funding for HAPO, is being provided by VolunteerAfrica.

Other small projects have been undertaken by HAPO over the past few years but the establishment of the OVC programme, and the support of VolunteerAfrica, means that our partner in Tabora is now running on a full-time, staffed, basis for the first time.

HAPO Staff Team with Visitors from VolunteerAfrica

2. Who is the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programme For?

Vast numbers of children in Tanzania have been orphaned as a result of the AIDS/HIV epidemic. This has left many children living with elderly grandparents, with other relatives or in child-headed families. Tanzanian social structures mean that children will always have somewhere to go; a guardian who should care for them, however the difficulty is that the size of the problem is so big these traditional structures are being overwhelmed. Even where there is the will to help there is often just no money to provide the food and other needs of growing children.

HAPO’s project aims to benefit some of those children in Tabora who are most vulnerable.

The pilot for this programme identified, and has been working with, 12 children. HAPO worked with District Officials and community leaders to work out which children to support.

They decided to concentrate on specific suburbs (villages) within the Tabora Municipality. District and community leaders came up with a (very long) list of children who were felt to be in need of support.

The HAPO team then came up with a list of criteria that they used to assess all the children that had been put forward, to ensure that those who would get most benefit from the programme were selected.

3. What is HAPO doing?

HAPO believe that there are three key actors influencing the lives of children. These are

1. The children themselves
2. Their guardians
3. Their school teachers

HAPO is developing a programme that impacts on the children’s lives by working at all three levels.

The children attend the childrens centre for half of each day (when they are not in school). They are given practical support, such as a proper lunchtime meal and school uniforms, and a programme of activities and lessons to help develop social skills and to give the children a better chance of succeeding in the overcrowded school classes. Volunteers will usually find that they spend most of their time working with the children, under the supervision of a trained teacher, at the childrens centre.

For the guardians, training and support is provided, mainly at weekends. One of the tasks that they are currently working on is developing income generating projects so that families are better able to help themselves.

Work has to be done to make sure the schools have the capacity to support these children, and their teachers know what kind of challenges they face in their lives outside of school. A key part of this is based around the use of the Child-to-Child programme. Staff at HAPO have extensive experience of running Child-to-Child programmes and the aim is to roll this out to all schools that children in the programme are attending.

Following the success of the pilot project VolunteerAfrica will be providing the funding necesary to increase the size of the programme to accommodate 24 children, from eary in 2007.

4. More about Child-to-Child

HAPO has extensive experience of working with children in Tabora, and is committed to employing a participatory approach to teaching and learning. Through using games, art, music and drama, children can learn important basic lessons about health, hygiene and safety. This is called a Child-to-Child (CtC) approach.

• CtC is a way of teaching children about health that encourages them to actively participate in the learning process
• CtC recognizes that children can take responsibility for their own health and that of their siblings, families and communities
• CtC facilitates children developing a better understanding of simple health messages, finding out how the problems affect their home environment, discussing what they find and planning to take action together.
• CtC encourages the use of art, music and drama to make learning and teaching on health messages participatory, fun and achievable by even the youngest children.
• CtC is an approach to learning that recognizes that children are able, and have the right to take an active part in development.
• CtC is a process that promotes good citizenship, encouraging and practicing sustainable development.

Through using this kind of approach, children are encouraged to take responsibility for their own education, and to learn together with other children. Volunteers can help this process by facilitating games, drama and fun activities. They can also participate in teaching handicraft or trade skills, giving some of the older children the opportunity to begin making a living, or to support their families.

For more information on Child-to-Child see:
www.child-to-child.org
www.healthlink.org.uk/projects/hiv/ccath_approach.html

5. What the Volunteers will do and who it might suit

Volunteers arriving in Tabora during 2007 and 2008 will be actively involved in the initial years of an exciting, long-term project. The money raised by volunteers has contributed to the building and equipping of the childrens centre, and is continuing to fund its ongoing activities. Volunteers will start leading classes and activities with guidance from qualified Tanzanian staff Activities might include playing with groups of children, taking small groups for teaching, and generally helping them develop their confidence around other people. All teaching and games should promote healthy and positive messages. The volunteers are a key part of making the project work.

Living and working in Tabora will also be a great learning experience taking in everything from new ways of cooking and eating, to coping with learning a language, to living with other volunteers. This project is an opportunity to be really involved in an exciting new project, and to understand a bit more about Tanzania, its culture and its people.

The programme will particularly suit volunteers with some experience of working with children & /or teaching. In view of the nature of the programme, and the limited number of places available, participation will be restricted to volunteers who can commit themselves to spending 11 or 12 weeks (depends on start date).

This programme will suit people who thrive in unstructured environment. This opportunity will be a unique experience and will provide insight into issues involved in running a small and growing NGO in Africa.

6. Volunteer Accommodation

The volunteer base is a large house, in its own secure compound that is about 200 metres from the HAPO office and drop-in centre. The house has mains electricity and water (though power cuts mean that these can not always be guaranteed).

Accommodation is comfortable with:

• your own bedroom, with a bed, mattress, two cotton sheets and a mosquito net. Some volunteers may occasionally have to share with one other person.
• shared bathrooms with shower and flushing toilet
• a shared kitchen with a two-ring hot plate for cooking, an electric kettle, cooking pots, plates, mugs, and cutlery.
• an appropriate level of security including barred and mosquito-netted windows and solid doors within a fenced and gated compound. As with all houses of this type watchmen are also provided.

Food and other supplies are readily available in local kiosks and in Tabora town centre.

The Volunteer Base House in Tabora.

7. Joining This Programme

Details of Costs for the HAPO OVC Programme are here.

Details of Start and Finish Dates for the HAPO OVC Programme are here.

8. Back to the Programme Page

Click Here to go back to the summary of programmes page.

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